Circles of Mischief
by LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX
Summary: What about those who where left behind in the Shire? How did it effect them? It seemed like years since the four hobbits had left the Shire; well it felt years to Camellia. ONE-SHOT/S


**Circles of Mischief**

It seemed like years since the four hobbits had left the Shire; well it felt years to Camellia. She still sees Merry's mother at the market on Sundays, even had a cup of tea with Pippins mother last weekend. Apart from the mother of the two cousins there was Rosie Cotton who noticed the missing of the hobbits, Rosie didn't say it out loud but she missed Samwise Gamgee more than she would ever admit, Camellia could practically see Rosie kicking herself for not doing anything further with the hobbit on Bilbo's birthday- the last night they were seen. Camellia knew that was the problem with Rosie as it mirrored her own feelings - the same emotions stirred in her own restless soul, wishing she had the strength to talk to the goof of a hobbit Pippin to tell him how much she cared of him, loves him.

Their parents weren't too fussed as they were always disappearing for days or weeks with mischief, Camellia's stomach told her it wasn't just an ordinary mischief of trouble- They had left the Shire. But for how long? No one knew, she hoped it wouldn't be to long after the rumor of the black riders searching through town. In their small community, there was a buzz about the four hobbits as it was unheard of for hobbits to move outside the Shire, she tried to ignore them as best as she could. They can be sure that Camellia was never, ever going to leave the boys alone again. Merry and Pippin were her best friends and the one day she helps her mother around the house they vanish.

Her whole world is circled around them and she could now understand why her mother was worried about her time spent with the male hobbits, not for the bad habits but the knowledge that the boys were going to grow up and start their own lives and families. That the young hobbits would pull the stunt they are known for, getting up and leaving without any notice, therefore leaving Camellia with nothing. Even now she didn't drink tea and supper with the rest of the young female hobbits but kept to herself, she once heard her parents using the word _isolated _to describe her, she liked to use the word _imaginative_.

She lived in the past not the present, the good memories with the two mischief hobbits. In saying that she helped around the house and visited her sister and her nephews, even taken a job at night working at the tavern with Rosie. Her parents would have preferred her to find a better job but at the moment they didn't argue with her when she finally left the house instead on accompanying the leather chair at Frodo Baggins in front of the fireplace that gave her a view of the front door. She knew when Frodo was back, the boys would be right behind him. And the quiet cracking of the house left her feeling at peace instead of the pity eyes from her family and the Shire.

She could remember the first time Pippin and Merry encouraged her to help in their mischief. It was one of those days that the house was filled with relatives and she escaped to the lake to get away from the three triplets girls with their whining voices and pink bow ties. The wet glass brushed along her skirt from the early morning rain, she wiggled her toes in the mud feeling it go through them making a laugh escape her at the sensation. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes flickered up to the boy in front of her that was soon joined by another boy with strawberry blonde curls looking almost identical.

"What do you mean?" She asked back with just as much curiosity as the small hobbit before.

"Girls aren't allowed here." The smaller one planted his hands of his hips.

"And why is that?"

"It's the boys… area." He sounded unsure of himself looking at the other darker haired hobbit next to him who nodded his head in agreement.

"No it isn't, you're making that up." She crossed her arms challenging the two small hobbits.

"We are not." The strawberry haired one said.

"You have to pass the test." The darker one said hoping to make the girl go away.

"What's the test than? If you can do it so can I." Camellia didn't change her posture, this would be better than having to put up with the triplets- these boys were a challenge compared to them.

"You..you have to catch a frog!" Her eyebrows along with the dark head ones raised under their fringe before the stunned boy nodded in agreement with his relative.

"Yep, a _frog_."

"It couldn't be too hard to find a frog." Camellia tried to ignore the voice in her head that said her mother wouldn't be pleased at the state she would be in after catching one.

"It has to be brown."

"And small!" The two young hobbits nodded in agreement before turning back to Camellia who had the smallest of lines between her eyebrows.

"I'm sure there is one around here _somewhere_." The boys watched as Camellia used one hand to pull the edges of her dress up and the other to balance across a fallen log making her way to the edge of the pond, if it had been any other girl she would have headed in the opposite directions like so many have had before.

"You're really going to catch a frog!" She turned her head at the tone of slight amazement in the strawberry blondes voice.

"Of course." Giving the boys a smile, she bent down at the pond edge and started to spread the grass in search. The two hobbits where soon close by watching her with curious eyes as she muttered to herself, humming a tune.

It wasn't long that Camellia found one between a small stone surrounded by mud, she almost laughed at her luck at finding a brown frog when it started to hop away. The air escaped her lungs as she jumped for it, her hands cupped and slamming on the ground only to miss as it leaped again. The laughter behind her pushed Camellia's determination to catch the frog. The small animal started for the water, his small body making tiny leaps and giving Camellia time to get crawl on her knees before she lost it for good. It was just about to jump again when she managed to dive onto it, her elbows digging into the mud as she cupped the frog. "I've got it!"

"You really caught a frog." They stepped closer. "Let us have a look." She slowly opened her hand showing a small brown frog sitting in her dirty palm.

"You going to keep it?" The another asked.

She nodded in head. "Master Leap." The three hobbits all cracked at smile at the name.

The two boys looked at one another and gave a quick nod before running further into the trees."Come on, follow us." She tucked Master Leap into her side dress pocket before chasing after the two boys. Laughter sounded from their mouths as they jumped over fallen logs and run through the patches of daisies.

They came to a quick stop, each boy with a grin on their face at the girls awed expression. The hunched over trees and surrounding brushes made a natural cubby house, it seemed magical with the large willow and ivy twined around the trunk with The branches giving cover. "This is ours."

"Ours?" She questioned.

"_Ours_." They nodded in agreement, "It's a secret, you can't tell anyone."

"Well…except Frodo."

"And Sam." She hid her smile at their way of thinking the meaning of secret.

"And Camellia." The two hobbits looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"I don't know a Camellia." The strawberry blonde spoke up.

"You do now, Camellia Noakes but I prefer Elli." She curtsied for them, her brown curls falling in front of her eyes.

"Meriadoc Brandybuck." The darker one bowed.

"And Peregrin Took." The strawberry blonde following soon after, giving an exaggerated bow. "But my friends call me Pippin."

"And I Merry." The two smiled at her before heading to the their secret hole.

"Do you think Luncheon would be ready Merry?" The question made Camellia stop in her footsteps.

"Luncheon?" They turned around at her panicked tone.

"It's about that." Pippin rubbed his stomach and licked his lips. "We have a couple of sandwiches." He pointed in the direction of their hide out but the expression on her face didn't change.

"Mothers going to be excepting me."

A small smile crawled onto Merry's face. "They don't know you're here."

"Will I see ya tomorrow?" She asked nervously, this could be a onetime thing.

"Yep!" Camellia smiled as the answer came out of both of them spoke at the same time, their cheerful tones putting her back into a good mood.

"I'll see you then." She called out as she started running back to her hole, hopefully with the racket around the house she wouldn't have been missed.

As she got the door, her little brown fingers turned the handle and tip toed into down the hall to the wash room. At the reaction she smiled, her curls were a wild mass with mud dried on her cheeks; she wiggled her toes at feeling the dry mud crack on her skin. With the sound of laughter down the hallway, she quickly cleaned herself up, washing away the afternoon events and patting down her dress, it was looking worse for wear but there was no time to change.

Stepping out from the wash room, she started for the kitchen as the laughter of her mother was coming from the sitting room. As she started getting some water and biscuits ready for the adults, placed the white jug on the tray followed with the ginger treats. She put her hand in her pocket to get her ribbon when she touched something unusual, the small brown frog sat on her palm. The sound of footsteps made her panic, the frog simply looking at her with ease as she put the creature in the jug as her father came around the corner. "Elli my dear, just what I had in mind." Without warning, her father picked on the tray and headed to the sitting room.

She stayed in place, shock running through her before following her father. The man was pouring her aunt a drink and Camellia knew for sure that she would miss out on desert for a week as the frog dropped in her aunt's cup. She kept talking to her mother as she lifted the glass, the brown frogs butt was staring mother in the face making her freeze up while father went to reach for the glass as Aunt took a drink. "Waters tasting a bit funny dear." The older hobbits nose scrunched up before placing the glass down.

"Yes, it is." The distasteful tone of her mother made her step closer to her father. "_Camellia_, get your aunt some tea." The small hobbit tried to dash out of the living room. "And take _the glass_." Quickly turning around, Camellia grabbed the glass from her mother and hurried to the front door.

The nerves butterflies never left her stomach as she slowly poured the water on the garden making sure the frog landed on his feet. The creature didn't seem nervous or panicked like the hobbit in front of it, but simply like it was an adventure for it before it made its way to the moss on the side of the hobbit hole. Yep, there was no doubt in Camellia's mind that desert would be put on hold for a week or two.

It was later that evening that she sat on her the green leather chair in the sitting room, her father leaning against the ache way with a pipe in his mouth and her mother pacing, the hands on hips as a sure telling that her mother was raging. Camellia had tried to explain herself but it only seem to be digging herself a gap the size of a hobbits hole. "Oh no, you are not spreading time with Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took!" The tone of her mother's voice made the corners of her mouth turn up. Unaffected to her mother words, the next morning after picking the garden she joined the two hobbits back at the pond going to their secret place, the next adventure- Farmer Maggot's Crops.

**AN: I'm not a crazy fan of LOTR's or The Hobbit but I do enjoy them and I haven't had the chance to read the books yet, but I will…soon. Did I do well enough to keep writing shots of Pippin and Camellia (Elli) Noakes?**


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